i remember the sense of urgency expressed by the then-director of the national intelligence mike mcconnell, the then-c.i.a. director michael hayden, the attorney general at the time, michael mukasey, as they discussed the consequences that we would have to deal with if we continued not to move forward and put this act back in place. the agreement we reached balanced the concerns of those who feared that the national security agency had overreached with the other balance was the ongoing authority that the intelligence community needed to protect the country. that agreement is before us again to be reauthorized for another five years. the fisa amendments act protects individuals in the united states from so-called reverse targeting. it's one of the concerns people had five years ago. this would be a process which in theory could be used to monitor the communications of american citizens under the guise of spying on terrorists. it also continues to ensure that any communication originating in the united states caught in the fisa process is minimized. now, what does that mean? it means it's ha